V.S. Ugrappa, newly elected MP, has demanded that the BJP government at the Centre convene a special Parliament session to exclusively discuss the crisis facing agriculture and allied activities and also the plight of farmers.
Addressing presspersons here on Sunday, Mr. Ugrappa said the prices of agricultural produce have slashed and farmers have been staging protests in New Delhi to get a positive response from the government.
“But the BJP government has raised the issue of construction of Ram Mandir. In 2013, Narendra Modi announced that if his party was voted to power, he would implement the Dr. Swaminathan committee recommendations but later did a U-turn after becoming the Prime Minister. This only goes to show that the Modi government has no concern for farmers,” he alleged.
Mr. Ugrappa said that he had requested his party leaders, including KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao and Congress Legislative Party leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, to consider nominating a person from Ballari district to the Legislative Council, which fell vacant after he won the byelections to Lok Sabha from Ballari Parliamentary constituency.
“There are many eligible persons in the party’s district unit here and I wanted the leaders to accommodate one of them to the Council. I have already spoken to the party leaders. Ultimately, the choice of selecting a suitable person will be with them,” he said.
Mr. Ugrappa dismissed reports appearing in a section of media that several MLAs and former Ministers, aspiring for Cabinet berths, were unhappy with Mr. Siddaramaiah and would be giving a complaint against him to the party high command. “It is far from truth. There are no differences within the party and it is an attempt by vested interests in the Opposition to cause confusion by spreading rumours,” he said.